Due to their failed stake out the night before, their start to their second day in Kier is a late one. Elyza awakes to movement in the room. For a moment she panics, completely forgetting where she is and goes to grab her weapons beside her bed. Cornelia just looks at her, looking a bit confused to why there's a half asleep tiefling holding a shortsword vaguely in her direction.

“Where I’m from, you don’t greet people by pointing swords at them.”

Elyza drops her weapon immediately, falling back into bed with a groan of embarrassment. She doesn’t miss the amused smirk Cornelia flashes her before she grabs her bag and goes to leave the room. She stops, her hand on the door handle. Elyza thinks maybe she has something else to say, but then just as quick as Cornelia showed any hesitance, she leaves.

Elyza sits up, rubbing her eyes, wondering what that was all about. She really doesn’t get Cornelia, not at all. One minute she’s being an asshole, talking down to everyone, then the next she’s nice and somewhat down to earth. Elyza has a few guesses to why Cornelia is acting out, but honestly, she doesn’t care enough to really figure it out. She did weird stuff when she was younger and figuring out who she was too. Although, she was never a spoilt brat like Cornelia.

It doesn’t take her long to get dressed and ready for the day. As she makes her way downstairs, she immediately sees her group sitting at the same table they sat at the evening before. She just stands there for a moment, a soft smile pulling at her lips as she watches Cheese dramatically tell some story. They all look so happy, so content, even with their failure last night. Elyza was sure today they would be solemn and upset about the night before, but apparently, they’re pretty good at springing back.

Cheese notices her, waving her over with a grin. So, she goes over, sitting down in the last empty chair next to Naliah. Naliah doesn’t really acknowledge her presence, looking a bit lost in her own little world. Elyza doesn’t take it personally. She remembers when she used to daydream of grand adventures and of what her life could be. That was a long long time ago now.

She finds herself getting lost in her own thoughts of what she was doing at Naliah’s age. She’d found herself in Pyke at eighteen, scared and alone in a dark place she didn’t know how to escape from. She’d found a merchant that needed help, within a year of working for him she’d made enough gold and contacts to head out on her own. She’d met Alenas around her nineteenth birthday, and he opened her eyes to her true potential. He showed her what he was capable of, what she was capable of, and what they could do together. She could use her wit and her charm to con even the stingiest of people. She had everyone wrapped around her little finger.

And yet here she is now, seven years later in a tavern, escorting some kids she barely knows. Her life took a turn in a weird direction, but it was for the best. She’s her own person now. She’s in control and can do as she pleases...but yet, she doesn’t know what she wants. As she watches them all happily chatting, discussing what they want to do with the rest of the day, she feels at peace almost. She decides that maybe being here with these colourful idiots really isn’t that bad.

Cariston really wants to check out the library, Cheese and Naliah also seem interested in that plan. Elyza could care less for books, and especially for libraries. They’re always so stuffy and dull, the quietness always making her feel a little on edge. Cornelia doesn’t give any objections to the plan, but doesn’t look particularly thrilled either. They all head to the library, Cariston going through the materials he’d like to cover, while Cheese does the same. Elyza just ends up tuning them out, preferring to take in her surroundings as they walk.

When they arrive, Cariston and Cheese seem way too excited to see so many books. Naliah seems interested, but more reserved than the boys, who seem to be basically vibrating with joy. They grab their books, sitting at a table all together. Elyza sits with them, having a look at what they’re reading out of interest, but it's all just a big jumble of words to her. She doesn’t particularly care enough to try to understand any of it.

As the hours pass, Elyza starts to feel like she's going a little bit insane. She had always assumed she was decently patient. Apparently, that patience does not extend to the group wanting to read, and her just sitting there for hours on end. She’s so bored she’s starting to count how many books are on each section of each shelf. She swears quietly to herself as she loses count, deciding that she can’t take this anymore and at least needs some air. As she heads outside, she sees Cornelia standing by the door looking as equally bored. When Cornelia spots her, her eyes light up, striding towards Elyza with urgency.

“Please tell me we’re leaving?”

Elyza just shakes her head, unable to help showing the a smile as Cornelia groans dramatically. “Ugh, I can’t stand it in here anymore! I’m going to get some lunch, coming?”

Elyza thinks she must have misheard because she swears Cornelia, who yesterday basically hated her, has just invited her to lunch. She blinks, watching as Cornelia looks at her, waiting for a response, already half turned away obviously wanting to get going.

“We can’t just leave them here…” Elyza replies quietly, still in shock more than anything. Who is this, and what has she done to Cornelia?

“Of course we can. If they want to be boring and read books, let them. I’m hungry, so let's go.”

Fuck it, why not? Elyza surely can’t be expected to keep an eye on the whole group all of the time. In fact, her keeping an eye on Cornelia is probably the best course of action as, apart from Cheese, she seems to be the most unpredictable one in the group. That’s what she tells herself anyway as she nods and follows Cornelia away from the library.

They walk for about ten minutes or so, making idle chatter, not really talking about anything important. Cornelia is telling some story about being back home in Pyke. It’s strange as she doesn’t talk about Pyke like it's her home. Her tone suggests she merely tolerates the place, but she seems happy when she talks about her father and things they’ve done together. Elyza keeps quiet about her origins, and her time in Pyke. She doesn’t know if she can completely trust Cornelia yet.

Cornelia is telling a story about a maid who had a secret affair with one of the butlers that was exposed at one of her father's grand parties, When Elyza seems to take in her surroundings properly for the first time in a while. She immediately feels uneasy as she notices the quality of buildings and businesses, the people walking past dressed in fancy clothes Elyza could never even dream of being able to afford. It takes everything she has to not just stop and quickly turn around and walk out of the district. Cornelia seems to eventually notice Elyza isn’t replying anymore. She gives her a bit of a strange look, but then shrugs and begins walking over to a small bakery with a few tables and chairs outside.

Elyza tries to swallow down her uneasiness, not wanting to ruin whatever Cornelia has planned for them. To her surprise, Cornelia buys them both a lunch of many baked goods. Elyza has never seen such a selection. It’s a wonderful sickly sweet feast they share. Elyza only manages a few bites of her first pastry before she feels sick. She takes a few deep breaths, trying to ground herself and repeat her mantra that she’s safe here, no one can hurt her.

Cornelia is mid bite of a particularly sweet fruit tart when she notices Elyza’s discomfort. She looks a bit unsure of what to do, placing her food down before she speaks tentatively. “...Are you...okay?”

Elyza swallows hard, closing her eyes for a moment, feeling slightly better as she nods. “I, uh. I really don’t like all this fancy stuff.”

Elyza opens her eyes to see Cornelia making a face. For a moment, she’s worried Cornelia might make a scene like she did yesterday after their disagreement. But she doesn’t, her lips forming a thin line. “I don’t understand that. I’ve always lived this life, had everything I've ever wanted. The best parties, the most delicious food, the most expensive wine. Everything…” she trails off, her eyes on the table in front of her. “When father sent me away from our home to the academy, I didn’t think I'd ever get to see anything like this again.”

Elyza doesn’t know what to say. Cornelia has been so stuck up and uptight since they met, this is so unlike her. She’s honestly considering running back to the library and telling the rest of the group there’s something very wrong with Cornelia, before she realises how ridiculous that would be.

Cornelia has a look on her face Elyza can’t read when their eyes meet again. She panics for a moment, knowing she has to say something. “I get that. I’ve never had a...a good life.” Elyza admits, choosing her words very carefully. “Areas like this, where the rich live and abuse their power, have always made me uncomfortable. But, it isn’t that bad. I don’t mind being here if it makes you feel more at home.”

Cornelia seems genuinely surprised at Elyza’s admission. She finishes off her treats, Elyza mirroring her as she feels actually hungry now the panic seems to have subsided. They eat in a comfortable silence, Elyza feeling she has a new understanding of Cornelia. Yeah, she can be a bitch, and really insensitive, but she’s just a young woman trying to figure out where she belongs in the world. Cornelia may be five years younger than Elyza, but Elyza definitely feels she can relate to Cornelia on some level with all of this.

They spend the rest of the day shopping, Elyza still feeling a little uneasy about her surroundings, but she gets over it. They mostly window shop, Cornelia never seeming to run out of outrageous stories. She'd always heard rich kids had the wildest stories, but she’d never gotten to test that theory until now. Cornelia takes her to many boutiques and tailors, pointing out fabric and designs she’s always wanted.

Elyza realises, as Cornelia seems to be walking with confidence in where she’s going, that she must have been here before. The group did lose her for a good three or so hours the other day when they were all out. Her running off to be here does make more sense than Cheese's theory that she’d gone for a nap somewhere. Although, knowing Cornelia and how unpredictable she is, either could have been right.

As they’re being shown a very expensive silk that Elyza is a little bit scared to touch, Cornelia talks about her father getting her an expensive dress for her fifteenth birthday, but it was in the wrong colour, and made of the wrong material. She talks about it like he should have known what she’d wanted, she’d told him a million times. Elyza begins to wonder if maybe Cornelia’s life isn’t quite as perfect as the picture she’s painted of it.

As they start to make their way back towards the trade district, Elyza notices a shop where she’s more used to being. Cornelia gives her a bit of a strange look when Elyza lightly touches her arm, steering her in the direction of the shop. That's probably because during their whole day together, Elyza has not suggested a single place to go to, she’s just let Cornelia drag her around for the day.

As they enter, Cornelia sees a very prominent display of long rounded objects, leather straps attached at the base, and blushes practically scarlet. It looks hilarious considering how cool and collected she usually is. Elyza just smirks, watching as Cornelia makes some flustered comment about not needing anything like that before quickly hurrying out of the building and heading in the wrong direction. Elyza grins triumphantly to herself before hurrying after Cornelia so she doesn’t get lost. It turns out her sense of direction is even worse than her temper. Cornelia walks firmly in front of her at a brisk pace, still in a huge huff with Elyza for taking her to a sex shop. Elyza still thinks it's hilarious.

They meet up with the rest of the group back at the tavern. Cheese excitedly fills them in on all the ‘cool research’ they missed out on. Elyza shoots Cornelia a look, who rolls her eyes dramatically back at her. Elyza does feel the tiniest bit bad for having a day where she left half the group to potentially get in trouble. But honestly, she feels she kind of needed it. She had, dare she say it, fun with Cornelia today. Maybe she isn’t so bad, underneath all the hot headedness that is. She is still without a doubt, a spoiled brat. But, she isn’t nearly as bad as Elyza had originally thought.

_________________________________________________________________________

Over the next few days, Cornelia seems to drift away again, keeping the group at arm’s length at all times. Elyza has caught her a few times sitting at the desk in their room, writing letters when she thinks Elyza is already asleep. Elyza has meant to ask her what’s going on, but every time she goes to, something happens. Or Cornelia gets pissed off, and Elyza does not want to make her temper tantrums any worse. So she spends time with the others, watching Naliah come out of her shell a little by little as she talks a bit more, once even trying to explain how she summons her sword, but of course Elyza has no clue what she’s on about. As far as she's concerned, it's just weird magic and she makes swords appear when she clicks her fingers. It’s kinda cool, Elyza has to admit, but not something Elyza practically wants to be able to do even if she could. She has her bow, and her shortswords at their hips if push comes to shove.

She spends a day with Cheese, who finally traps her and forces her to meet his family. She has to say hi to so many mice that she can’t keep track of them all, and her head starts to hurt after the 20th mouse she’s introduced to. He explains about the book Cariston loaned him to read, and why it's such a cool and special edition. He says he’s currently researching life spans of different creatures so he can see if there's a way to live longer. He says he’ll die within the next year, so he needs to hurry up with his studies. Elyza feels her heart sink a little as she watches his face drop, lost in thought for a moment, before he bounces back and starts talking about something else. She never thought of his lifespan, that he didn’t have as many years to live like the rest of them do. But then again, she’s never thought of how long mice live.

Her time with Cariston is interesting. Like Cheese, he talks a lot about books and what he’s reading, but he also has stories. Stories of legends and creatures not seen for thousands of years. He speaks of dragons, of beasts with incredible power. Of old tribes who died out, and others who potentially still exist somewhere. He tells her of his newest discovery with all his time he’s been spending at the library. He’s discovered a tribe that were called the pyx, which had some sort of association with Ioun. She smiles politely as he rattles off more and more information and theories about them, even showing her a picture of their apparent symbol. She has to remind him she’s just a mercenary guard, the furthest thing from a scholar. He doesn’t seem to care, he seems just happy to be able to talk and air out his ideas. It’s cute, in a nerdy kind of way, she decides.

In the few days that have passed, they haven't seen Trizzi at all. Which is why when Elyza comes downstairs for breakfast and see’s Trizzi eating with the others, she basically runs over to the table, grabbing the chair beside Trizzi with lightning speed. She smiles, exchanging greetings with her, suddenly feeling a bit nervous with being so close to her now. Which she knows is ridiculous, it's just Trizzi.

“Well, I hope you’re all enjoying yourselves here.” She says in her cute voice, her accent making each syllable sound more and more adorable. “I have more work to do for the academy today, but I found the most wonderful shop the other day that you may find interesting. It’s called The Arcane Anvil. It’s- Oh, let me think.”

She gives directions to this shop, speaking excitedly about magic items and the owner being a lovely pleasant elven woman who’s just as enthusiastic about magic as Trizzi is. Her eyes sparkle wonderfully in the morning light, her voice carrying through the whole tavern. Elyza doesn’t realize she’s staring, a goofy smile on her face, until she hears Trizzi’s voice calling her name with slight concern, asking if she’s okay.

A small blush covers Elyza’s cheeks as she straightens up, telling Trizzi that she's fine, she just isn’t fully awake yet. She hears Naliah snicker a few places to her left. She thinks of telling her to shut up, to tell them all to stop giving her that knowing look every single one of them has on their faces. But she doesn’t, she just sits there, trying her best to look normal as she listens to Trizzi talk about some kind of magic something with Cariston. She isn’t really listening, she’s far too embarrassed from making a fool of herself in front of the group.

After breakfast, the group head out for the day. Cariston suggests they visit the place Trizzi mentioned, saying he’s never really come across magic items and would love to check them out. Elyza doesn't have any complaints, it's been a few days since they all had a proper shopping trip together, so she’s fine with it. She doesn’t have anything she needs to do, so she’s perfectly happy being led around town by these crazy bookworms.

They find The Arcane Anvil quickly enough. It looks like any other boring building from the outside. There’s a sign hanging above the door with an avail being struck by a hammer, bright shimmers of magic glittering from it. Elyza doesn’t have high hopes for this being a particularly exciting day, that is until she walks into the building. It’s a rather small interior, display stands with cloaks and other items placed around the room, a counter straight ahead, with a beautiful elven woman with long blue hair standing behind it. The rest of the group split up looking around the room at the display cases, making comments and observations that fall on deaf ears, as Elyza just stares ahead. She blinks, snapping herself out of her little daze and decides to get to work. No way is she going to pass up the opportunity to get a bit of flirting done at least with this woman.

“Oh hello, can I help you?” She asks with a smile, closing the book she’s reading as Elyza approaches the counter.

“I’m just here with my friends having a look.” Elyza says, gesturing over her shoulder to where she can hear Cariston and Cheese excitedly discussing something about a cloak that billows? “I just wanted to compliment you on how wonderful the place looks, it's a lovely design.”

“Why thank you, it isn’t often I get compliments like that.”

“Really? The people around here must be dull then. You’re such a beautiful woman after all.” Elyza says, giving her signature smile, leaning on the counter.

“Oh, I’m flattered.” She says, smiling still, but making a very big gesture of showing off the gold wedding band on her left hand. Elyza clocks it immediately, disappointment sweeping over her as she straightens up, flirty smile wiped off her face. Well, she can’t have them all.

She notices the rest of the group gravitating towards the counter and decides this is her chance at salvaging this failed attempt of a conversation. “My name’s Elyza, we’re looking to see if you have anything that can help us? A friend recommended we check this place out.”

“Trissaleth, pleased to meet you.” She says curtly, turning her attention to the rest of the group. “Is there anything you’re looking for in particular?”

“Not really, I see you have a lot of cloaks of billowing, they’re so cool.” Cheese says, a look of amazement on his face.

A frown tugs at Trissaleth’s lips before she replies. “Ah yes, nobles love cloaks that make them feel important. I make things with much more power, yet no one wants them.”

“We’re definitely interested in powerful items.” Cariston pipes up. She looks surprised for a moment, which isn’t a surprise since they look like just a bunch of kids, Cheese looking like a five year old boy, definitely not helping their cause.

She turns away, a smile on her face as she starts to rummage around the shelves behind the counter. She pulls out several items, showing them to the party. Elyza doesn’t really understand what many of them do, even as Trissaleth explains it. Cariston is the first to buy something, very excitedly at that. He ends up purchasing something that looks like just a normal ruby with some weird symbols on to Elyza, but Cariston has the biggest smile on his face when Trissaleth hands it over to him. She explains if he attaches it to his weapon, he can cast spells and use his dagger at the same time.

Cheese spends every last coin he has buying ink and paper. He even ends up buying a…a hat? Apparently, it's a magic hat. It does look rather cute on him, so it must be worth it. Naliah buys a large pearl which apparently will help her cast more spells if she needs it. While Elyza is deciding if she wants to buy anything, Cornelia steps forward, speaking for the first time since they’ve entered the shop.

“Do you have anything to do with fire?”

Trissaleth seems to think for a moment, crouching down and looking under the counter. When she resurfaces, she has a piece of paper with some sort of diagram on it. “I think this will interest you.” She explains it's a Circlet of blasting, which casts one of Cornelia’s favourite spells. It's something she’s been working on, but it will take a few days to make so they’ll have to wait for it. Everyone can see Cornelia’s excitement about it, which is why when she looks into her coin purse and frowns, Cariston steps up next to her.

“Do you need to borrow some gold? I have enough to cover it. You can pay me back later when you have it.”

Cornelia looks genuinely surprised. “You’d do that for me?”

“Of course, that’s what friends are for.” he says with a warm smile.

Cornelia seems conflicted, but takes the gold he’s offering and buys the circlet. She mumbles something about them not getting the wrong idea and that they’re not friends, but Cariston doesn’t seem too upset by it. He's probably used to Cornelia just being Cornelia by now.

Elyza finally picks something to buy, choosing a fancy looking quiver which apparently can hold up to sixty arrows in just one of the three compartments. Trissaleth mentions that Elyza can basically just use it to store all her weapons if she wishes. Although she doesn't mind having her shortswords strapped at her hips, the idea of having them stored to her side, and what could be basically a never ending supply of arrows, sounds too good to pass up.

Trissaleth also shows off some sending stones she’s made, saying that she can easily make a set of five of them for the group. Elyza immediately loves the idea, mostly because although they usually stick together, when one of them does wander off, it can be a nightmare trying to find them again. Basically, sending stones makes it impossible to lose Cornelia, even with her bad sense of direction.

“You enchant things, right?” Naliah asks, Trissaleth nodding. “Would you be able to enchant and inscribe something on my shield?” Naliah holds out the shield as she speaks, Trissaleth running her fingers over it, inspecting it carefully.

“I can definitely enchant it, for a price. The other thing, hmm.” She pauses, thinking for a moment. “Jo, can you come out here?”

There’s some banging and noise coming from a room off to the side of the shop. Elyza expects some guy to appear, the blacksmith who's made the weapons Trissaleth has been enchanting. What she doesn’t expect is a large muscular human woman to step into the shop, smiling sweetly as she spots the group. “Oh, hello there! I didn’t know we had such a big group of customers.” she says, casually winding her arm around Trissaleth’s waist which in response gets the most gentle and genuine smile from Trissaleth.

“Oh nice shield. Wait, sorry! Where are my manners today? I’m Joanna.”

Elyza just can’t stop staring at them. Trissaleth’s slim form compared to Joanna’s broad shoulders sure is something. Elyza realises that yeah, she’s into Trissaleth, but she’s also really into Joanna. She’s never been with two women at once before, not through lack of trying of course. She can’t help but imagine what that would be like. She watches them, their peaceful smiles and looks of adoration for each other putting a stop to her fantasies. They’re happy, she should probably back off, even though she desperately wants to flirt with both of them now.

Joanna seems more than happy to fill Naliah’s request, getting her to describe the design she wants and excitedly suggesting colours. Trissaleth reminds them again it will be a few days before they can pick up the items, which the group don’t particularly seem to care about.

After they’re done in The Arcane Anvil, Cornelia requests they visit the post master as she has a letter to send. The group agree, Cariston yet again trying to get across his message that friends help friends out. Cornelia just rolls her eyes, walking ahead of them all. Cheese and Cariston are chatting excitedly about their new magic items. Naliah is walking beside Elyza, but doesn't talk to her. Elyza is fine with that, she likes to have the security of someone else there while she keeps her eyes on her surroundings. For the last few days, she swears she’s seen someone out of the corner of her eye. Flashes of blonde hair, but when she looks there’s been nothing there.

She’s finally starting to let her guard down slightly, when she sees it again, the blonde out of the corner of her eye, staying just out of her sight. This time, she turns her head immediately. She catches a glance of Alenas pale face with a look of concentration as he keeps his eyes on her.

He is following her, fuck.

She yet again tries to think of a reasonable explanation as to why he would be following her, but all she can come up with is that he wants her help with something. He always was a bit of a weird one and liked to check out the people he did business with.

They’d first met when he’d followed her down an alleyway in Pyke. She’d placed a knife to his throat, asking what he wanted. He’d just smiled at her, telling her he knew she was something special. He said he’d been watching her for weeks, seeing how she interacted with people, sweet and innocent to their faces then fucking them over once their back was turned. He could unlock her full potential, help her become someone people wouldn’t want to cross. The idea of that power, of feeling untouchable made her agree to work with him. She wanted to be strong, strong enough that if he did find her, she would be ready.

She tries to keep her eye on him, making sure he definitely is following and it really isn’t an unlucky coincidence. He stays back, not seeming to notice she’s noticed him, still following the group. She doesn’t know what to do. She can’t confront him now, not in front of everyone in the street. She thinks of telling Naliah, but Naliah, like the rest of them, is too unpredictable. She might just run him through with a sword, which is something that sounds tempting, but yet again, they’re in public and she doesn’t know his intentions.

She decides, after thinking it over for a good few minutes, the best course of action is to ignore him just now and hope he slips up. She can corner him and get the answers she wants if she sees him follow her to the tavern again. For now, she can leave it. She can trust him to a certain degree. After all, he doesn’t know anything about who she really is. He isn’t a real threat to her

When they arrive at the post master, Cornelia hurries to the counter, loudly announcing she has a letter of great importance to send. The rest of the group hang back by the door, letting Cornelia do her business here. Elyza does wonder if she should send a letter while she’s here, but who would she even send a letter to? Miya’s face looking at her in awe from their last night they spent together flashes through her mind. Her big beautiful blue eyes, her long brown hair and the way it perfectly shaped her face. Elyza didn’t even tell her she was leaving, did she? She should really send a letter to Miya, just to explain where she went. She’s only been gone about a week at most, it wouldn’t be too late. But, she doesn’t need to send a letter. She doesn’t owe Miya anything.

“I need to send this letter to my father.”

“Yeah, great.” the very bored man behind the counter says, grabbing the open ledger and looking at it rather than her. “And who would your father be exactly?”

Cornelia stops, looking back at the group and then leans in closer, lowering her voice. That catches Elyza’s attention immediately. Why does Cornelia want to keep it a secret who her father is? She talks about him enough, and always has a story about some great party he’s held. Out of habit, more than anything, Elyza finds herself taking a few steps forward, listening closely.

“My father, you should know him, he’s very famous.”

“Uh huh.” He replies, looking up at her, looking just as bored as before.

“Lord McShelf of Pyke, I’m his daughter, Cornelia McShelf.” She says, obviously expecting him to react in awe. He just blinks at her and asks how she’d like to send it.

Elyza can’t help but smirk hearing who Cornelia’s father is. Lord McShelf. Of course, Cornelia’s whole attitude makes much more sense now. Elyza had done some work for the McShelfs during her time in Pyke, nothing too fancy or illegal for that matter, just transporting some materials of great value. They’re a rich family yes, but by Pyke standards, they are pretty low down, not by any means important. Cornelia is trying to big herself up, make it sound like she comes from more money than she actually does.

As Cornelia turns to leave, Elyza tries to act natural, like she hasn’t just found out Cornelia’s biggest secret. She smiles at her, Cornelia just frowning at her as she walks right past the group and out the door. They all follow, Cheese asking her if she writes to her father often. Cornelia deflects the question expertly, saying she’s tired and wants to head back to the tavern.

Well, Elyza certainly didn’t expect to find Lord McShelf’s one and only daughter to be in her company, or for that daughter to be using a fake surname of Swift.

_________________________________________________________________________

Their seventh day in Kier starts like any other. They meet downstairs for breakfast, Naliah eating her usual stack of meat she’s become accustomed to. Elyza was a little weirded out when Naliah first asked for it for breakfast, but now she’s used to it. As usual, they discuss their plans for the day throughout breakfast.

Cariston and Cheese both want to head back to the library, Naliah enthusiastically agreeing the library is a cool place. Cornelia shoots Elyza a look, which she knows by now means ‘time to ditch the losers and go shopping.’ which she would 100% agree with, if any of them had any gold to their name. Elyza isn’t stupid, she of course has some gold, but not a lot, and she’s keeping it for when she needs it. They’re in desperate need of a side job to earn some. Plus, Elyza really misses fighting bad guys. It’s been six days since their big fight with the hag. She didn’t think she'd be too bothered, but she really misses shooting things.

They decide to stop by The Arcane Anvil first to pick up their items, as it’s been three days since their last visit. Elyza walks in, expecting to see Trissaleth at the counter, but instead Joanna is stood there. She grins as they come in, already reaching under the counter to retrieve their items. At this point, Elyza is just happy to see a woman who isn’t Naliah or Cornelia, and has to stop herself from running over to the counter to talk to her.

“Hello again! I think this is everything you guys ordered.” She says, looking over the sending stones, the circlet of blasting, and of course, Naliah’s shield which now looks pretty cool with some sort of symbol that sort of reminds Elyza of a flower on it.

Everyone picks up the items excitedly, Cornelia looking like she’s a little bit in love with her new headpiece. She tilts it in her hands and watches as the red gem in the centre catches and sparkles in the light. Naliah seems as equally impressed with her shield, tracing her fingers over the indents of the pattern. Cariston makes sure they all have a sending stone and goes over how they work, Joanna grinning as he does, and saying she’s glad he knows because she hates explaining it over and over again.

“Soooo, got anything new in?” Elyza asks, once again taking up her signature flirty smile as although she knows she shouldn't flirt, it’s just for fun.

“Oh, actually yes, we do. After you came in last time, I made something for you.”

“Oh really, for me? That’s so thoughtful.” She says, leaning into the counter slightly, keeping her eyes on Joanna’s. “What is it?”

Joanna turns towards the shelves, seeming to look for a moment before she makes a sound of triumph and turns back towards Elyza, holding an interesting looking arrow with a longer arrow head than she’s used to seeing, grooves carved into it. Elyza looks at it curiously before meeting Joanna’s eyes again.

Joanna smiles wide, holding it out so Elyza can get a better look. “I call them arrows of the wind. When you let them fly, they make this cool humming noise. Oh, and they’re enchanted!”

Elyza didn’t expect to fall in love with anything today, but the arrows and Joanna are proving her wrong on that front. “It’s beautiful, I can’t believe you made this.”

“Aw, thanks! I mean Trissaleth is the one who did the enchanting, so that’s the bit that makes them special.” Joanna says, rubbing the back of her neck shyly.

“You’re both very talented women, I’m envious.” Elyza says, watching in delight as she sees a small blush rise to Joanna’s cheeks. Sadly, due to their money situation, or lack off, she can’t afford to buy the arrows just now. As they leave, Joanna waves to them, saying she’s excited to see them again. Elyza doesn’t think she’s ever met someone as strong as Joanna, but also so soft and sweet. It’s a strange mix, and Elyza realises she’s also looking forward to going back to see her.

After their little detour to get their items, they happily make their way towards their destination for the day. As they’re approaching the library, they spot a town crier in the distance, ringing his bell to get the public's attention before speaking.

“Iron shortages continue as there is still no word from the dwarves of Dul-strom. Empires efforts to expand mining have met a standstill. Citizens are asked to ration their use of iron and steel.

Aggression from the wilds rises. All citizens are advised to hire extra guards while traveling.

Citizens are warned to take extra care when visiting the storerooms of the trade district. Disappearances have increased in the area. The public are asked to only travel there if necessary while the guard investigates.”

Elyza shoots a look at Naliah who also seems to have perked up at the news. They share a look, Elyza can tell by the sparkle in Naliah’s eye that she feels just as restless as Elyza does. Cariston, being the good guy he is, and maybe because he also misses casting spells at things, asks them if they want to check out the disappearances. Elyza and Naliah seem to agree a bit too enthusiastically compared to the rest of the group.

With their plans of going to the library completely forgotten, Cornelia seems happy enough. Or if she is unhappy, she doesn’t seem to have any objection to getting the chance to throw fire in someone's face. They yet again very easily find a guard who seems a bit flustered with the idea of them helping out. He advises they speak to the lieutenant who is in charge of the investigation. He says to check near the storehouses, that’s where they’re most likely to find Vauldrin.

The storehouses are a lot harder to find. Cornelia decides that she wants to lead the way as she never gets to lead them places. Cariston, who naturally seems to have fallen into the role of their leader, has no objections to this. Well, that is until they’ve been walking for twenty minutes, and Cheese points they’ve just walked in a big circle. Cariston calms the group, reassuring them no one is at fault, especially not Cornelia.

They eventually find their way there, the whole group managing to stop Cornelia from making wrong turns. By the time they arrive, she’s acting like she’s the smartest person alive and got them there all on her own. No one has the heart to tell her she quite possibly has the worst sense of direction in the world. As Cornelia’s still boasting about how great she is, they hear a man’s voice shouting for civilians to keep moving and stay away from the storehouses.

Elyza realises he must be the lieutenant simply by how he’s acting. He’s loud, and has confidence which makes him seem important. Yeah, that’s got to be him. She points him out, Cheese coming to the same conclusion as her, which he announces loudly.

“He must be in charge, he’s loud and full of himself.”

The man in question looks over to them, Elyza realising with absolute horror he’s just heard what Cheese said. She kind of wants to forget about the whole thing to save herself the embarrassment. Sadly, she also really wants to shoot something.

Cariston leads them over, smiling at this Vauldrin guy with some attempt to seem like a nice reputable guy, even though Cheese has already insulted the poor man. He watches them cautiously as they approach. The civilian he’s talking with takes one look at the party and decides they better get moving.

“Yes?” Vauldrin asks, sounding exasperated already.

“Hi, my name’s Cariston and these are my friends.” Cariston begins, gesturing to the rest of the group. Cheese waves at the man, receiving nothing short of a glare in return. “We heard about the problem with the disappearances, and were wondering if you needed any help?”

“You want to help?” Vauldrin asks, looking over the group with an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, we’re very reliable.” Cheese says matter of factly.

He still doesn’t seem convinced, but after Cheese staring him down happily for a few seconds he sighs and looks away. “Fine. Yes, we could use the help. Over the last few days, people have been disappearing around this area. We’ve been trying to keep people away, but it doesn’t seem to be helping exactly.”

“If it's around here, It can’t be too hard to find.” Cariston says, obviously thinking out loud as he begins to look around at their surroundings. He is right, although there are a lot of buildings, it really shouldn’t be hard to find. Especially since Elyza has spent a hell of a lot of years tracking people and creatures in cities just like this.

“If you can help, then sure. Knock yourselves out. Better you lot than my men.” Vauldrin says, waving his hand dismissively at the group as he sees another civilian coming over to talk to him. They leave him alone, figuring out the angry civilian complaining that he can’t get into his storage is enough of a punishment for being so rude.

And so begins the search for...whatever they’re looking for. Creatures? Kidnappers? Something or someone taking people? They decide the best way to go about this is just to check the general area people were last seen and go from there. So they walk, and walk, and then walk some more until they’ve done a full sweep of the area. Elyza is about to admit maybe this will be a little bit harder than she first thought when she sees it.

Hidden in the shadows of an alleyway, she sees a splattering of blood. “Guys, over there.” she says softly, not wanting to raise her voice in case whatever is doing this is nearby. They carefully make their way over, Elyza leading them further into the dark alleyway, her eyes trained on the ground looking for a trail. Sadly, there isn’t a trail past the splatter and then a few drops heading further in.

Cheese suddenly stops where he is behind her, screwing up his face. “Ew, do you smell that?”

“What?” Elyza replies, turning to look at him, not smelling anything out of the ordinary to say they’re in a city.

“It’s…” His eyes widen as he pushes past her, stopping as he gets the one of the more secluded storehouses. Elyza smells it then as well, the overwhelming scent of blood and decay coming from within. If the guards couldn’t find this, they’re complete idiots.

“Well, this could be promising.” she says, her hand on the door handle as she turns back to the party. They all look a bit on edge, Cariston giving her a nod when she pushes down the handle and the door opens. Nothing happens. There’s a stillness, a quietness which is somehow even more unnerving.

They all slowly make their way inside, Naliah now leading the group with her sword already out and ready. It doesn’t take them long before they see the pile of bloody corpses creating the horrible smell. Elyza shoots a glance at Cariston who looks absolutely horrified by what he sees. She sees Cornelia shudder in disgust beside her, Cheese having a similar reaction. Naliah seems to be the only one who doesn’t look too freaked out about this. She just looks...angry.

Suddenly, a large creature lands with a thud in front of them, everyone jumping back on instinct alone. As it stands to its full height, it unfurls its long tail from around itself, the end spiked and dripping with some sort of green liquid. Elyza immediately grabs her bow, aiming at the strange goat like creature, right between its glowing yellow eyes.

“What the hell is that?” Cornelia asks, flames flicking at her fingertips as she lifts her hand, ready to burn this thing.

“No clue, but I think it would look better dead!” Elyza says, letting an arrow loose, already reaching for another before seeing if her first hit. That’s when they hear another thud behind them, Cariston turning around immediately to meet another of the same creature's terrifying gaze.

“Looks like we’re fighting our way out.”

_________________________________________________________________________

Elyza should feel joy as she watches the last horned creature crumble to the ground, but all she feels is disgust. Stillness finally falls over the room, Elyza looking up at the rafters of the room to thankfully see no more monsters hiding up there. Cariston holds his arm, blood dripping slowly from the wound one of the creature's tails caused when he’d charged in to distract it from going after Cheese. Elyza makes her way over to him, the others doing the same.

“Are you okay, Cariston?” Cheese asks softly. Cariston smiles, wincing a little as he takes his hand away to survey the damage. The wound doesn’t look too deep, definitely something that can easily be healed by magic. As if reading her mind, Cariston closes his eyes for a second, his hands beginning to glow with a pale white light. The wound begins to close slowly, but Elyza turns away before she can watch it fully heal.

Naliah follows Elyza over to the first creature they killed, crouched down next to her as she tries to see if it has anything on it, or if she can figure out what the hell it is. She guesses it's some sort of demon, it certainly matches the description with its weird body and tail. Upon searching both the bodies they find a decent amount of gold and some gems. Naliah seems to just be staring at the shimmering gems, her eyes wide as a large grin spreads across her face.

Elyza watches her, remembering on their first day when she’d had a similar look on her face as she’d looked down the alleyway. Her stomach sinks, a wave of uneasiness washing over her. “...Naliah?”

Naliah seems to snap out of it, looking up from the sparkling gems in her hands. It takes her a moment to catch up on what’s going on as she looks away sheepishly. “I, uh. I really like gems.”

“You like...gems?”

“Don’t you? They’re just so sparkly and cool!”

Elyza just looks at her, a smile pulling at her lips as Naliah moves the gems around, eyes getting bigger as the light reflects off of them. Elyza has never met another weird lizard person like Naliah before. She wonders if they all go weirdly feral for gems, or if that's just another one of Naliah’s weird traits.

After everyone has collected themselves and Cariston has made sure no one is literally on the brink of death, they leave the storehouse, heading back towards where they last saw Vauldrin. He sees them coming, noticing the scrapes and blood on their clothing, and raises an eyebrow.

“I assume that’s it taken care of then? Not bad work for a lizard and a demon kin.”

Elyza just smiles sweetly at him, confirming that yes that is it taken care off, ignoring what he’s just called her. The first time someone called her something like that, she’d been upset. Worried that people really did just see her as some sort of demon. She has the horns and tail like the demons that she's seen in her time, so it's no wonder some humans think she’s like them.

Vauldrin still doesn’t seem too happy with them, but thanks them begrudgingly. He asks where they’re staying, saying he’ll have a reward brought to them in the next day or so.

_________________________________________________________________________

They spend the evening celebrating in the tavern, everyone but Cheese having a drink, he prefers to drink milk instead. Which works out honestly, because Elyza sure as hell doesn’t want people seeing her give what looks like a child a pint of ale. Elyza is laughing at another of Cornelia’s ridiculous stories when she looks to her left by chance, spotting a familiar face watching her again. She stops immediately, looking away.

She just stares at the table, deciding what the hell to do about Alenas. He’s been following her for nearly an entire week now, she needs to do something. Even if his intentions are good, she doesn’t like to be watched, he knows that.

“Elyza, you okay?” Cariston asks softly, the rest of the group stopping their conversations to look at her. Well, it’s now or never.

“That guy over there.” she says, slightly moving her head in his direction. They all, like idiots, turn to look. “You guys are so not subtle…” she murmurs. “He’s been following me since we got here.”

“What? Do you know him?” Naliah asks, a strange expression crossing her face.

“He’s…” she has to choose her words carefully. “Someone I used to know. I need to talk to him.”

Cheese looks confused, but nods. “Okay, we have your back.”

That stops her in her tracks. She looks at the group, Cheese and Cariston smiling at her saying they’ll help however they can. Naliah offering to use her sword if he turns out to be a pain. Cornelia making some offhand comment about how it would be a pain if he were to do something to her and she didn’t have anyone to go shopping with.

They care, they all care about her.

It renders her speechless for a moment, the crushing fear in her chest somehow feeling worse now. She’s not used to having people she can rely on. Sure, she had a few people in Pyke who she could turn to if she needed it, but they would never help without getting something they wanted out of it. These guys though, she’s known them for no more than a month, she’s only been travelling with them for over a week, and yet they’re ready to lay down their lives to protect her. She should be happy, but instead she feels even more scared. She’s just bringing more innocent lives into her mess.

She stands up, finishing off her drink to give her some sort of confidence boost. “If I’m not back in five minutes, come find me.” She turns away from the table before she can see any of their reactions.

Alenas looks surprised as she approaches his table. He quickly tries to mask his surprise, giving her his signature smile. If she didn’t know him, she’d say he looks happy to see her. But she knows better, everything about him is fake. “Oh, hi Elyza. Fancy seeing you here.”

She feels her eye twitch slightly, but tries to keep her cool, smiling back at him like this is just some nice fun reunion and not a warning for him to leave her the hell alone. “Yeah, it's been a while. Wanna take a walk and have a catch up?”

He makes the mistake of looking over her shoulder at what she knows is the table with her friends at. Bastard, he can still read her too well. After seeming satisfied that none of them seem to be looking over, he stands up, agreeing to talk outside. She leads him out of the tavern and around the side. She wants to stay away from prying eyes for many reasons, mostly in case this turns bad, and she has to do something she doesn’t want to.

“So, this is where you’ve been hiding, huh?” He asks her, his soft smile turning into a smirk. She knows he’s teasing, but his words still make her feel on edge.

“I’ve not been hiding, just doing bigger and better things.”

“Travelling with a couple of weird kids is better? You were good at what you did. What we did.”

“Yeah, I guess.” She says, trying to sound like she doesn’t care. “You’re awfully far away from Pyke yourself.” She meets his eyes. “Why are you here?”

He doesn’t miss a beat, doesn’t even hesitate. “Just some business, you know how it is.”

“Really, it must be someone important.” she says casually, keeping her eyes on his. He narrows his eyes slightly, reading her perfectly as usual. He’d taught her the art of being able to say a million things in very little words. The weight of what their words really mean don’t go unnoticed.

The smirk is back on his face, but somehow, it’s different, more sinister. “Oh yeah. Just doing a bit of smuggling for the Montroose family. You’ve heard of them, right?”

Elyza feels her eyes widen, feeling a stab of fear in her chest at the name alone. He can’t know, he just can’t. It isn’t possible, there’s no way he could know. She tells herself to calm the hell down, to not react. He must know something and is trying to get a reaction out of her. She won’t give him it.

“Sounds like a good deal, never worked with them.” She says, trying her hardest to keep the nervousness and fear out of her voice. He looks at her, his eye twitching slightly as he tries to figure out what she means. She just keeps smiling, not letting her facade slip.

She hears her friends approach before she sees them. They really aren’t the best at being stealthy or subtle. Luckily, that’s just what she needs right now. As they all appear, Cheese makes a big deal of not knowing where she went and so they all had to come find her. He does a great job of completely blanking Alenas, which he absolutely hates. He’s always loved to be the centre of attention, the important one.

“Who’s your friend, Elyza?” Cheese asks curiously, Elyza giving him a grin before she turns back to look at Alenas. “Oh, this is-”

“-Alenas Torrellin, charmed.” He says, flashing them all his signature charming smile, obviously expecting it to work. Elyza watches in absolute delight as Cornelia and Naliah just stare blankly at him. He coughs awkwardly, averting his eyes from their gaze, definitely not used to not being able to use his charm to get through every situation.

“I should really get going, business to do and all that.”

Elyza studies him, trying to figure out exactly what he’s trying to do here. He follows her for days on end, mentions that name to her. She doesn’t get it. The only thing she can come up with is he’s somehow figured out who she was, who she really is. She doesn’t like him holding that power over her, but there’s not much she can do.

“Yeah. It’s been nice catching up.” she says, her fake smile matching his as he bids her goodbye and goes to leave. She should kill him. Her secret would be safe then, there's no way he could ever find her again if no one knows who she really is. But....killing him means being just as bad as the man she’s trying not to become.

She watches as he leaves, the rest of the group coming to stand next to her, watching long after he’s disappeared. Elyza feels the blood draining from her face as she realises she might have just made the biggest mistake of her life. She figured out Alenas would eventually figure out who she really is, he’s a smart and manipulative man after all. It didn’t even cross her mind that he would betray her. What if he wasn't lying about working for the Montroose family? What if he’s working for them to gather information on where she is.

Fuck.

She flinches as she feels something tug on her sleeve. She looks down to see cheese looking up at her, eyes filled with curiosity. “Are you okay? What do you want to do with him?”

She just stares at him for a moment, realising she must look terrified. She takes a shaky breath, clenching her fist tightly in frustration at herself for being so fucking stupid.

“He’s...He’s a bad man. We need to stay away from him.”

“If he’s causing you trouble, we could always…” Naliah says, it obvious what she means by the fact she already has her sword summoned in her hand.

“No. No, I’m okay. He should stay away now.” She says, hoping that her intuition isn’t right for once. “Come on, let's get back inside before someone steals our table.”